Home for horses: Bidding begins on a grand equestrian estate being auction Tuesday

Bidding begins on a grand equestrian estate being auction Tuesday

Buyers will name their price for an unusual equestrian estate in eastern Collier County.

Minutes from Naples, the home — with 3 bedrooms and 3½ bathrooms — sits on more than five acres, with a six-stall barn, pastures and access to hundreds of miles of riding trails in nearby Picayune State Park.

The gated estate is tucked away on a dirt road called Stable Way, south of where Davis Boulevard meets Collier Boulevard and turns into Beck Boulevard west of Interstate 75.

It’s surrounded by commercial horse barns: Triple V, Everglades and Belle Meade. It will be sold Tuesday at an auction that starts at 2 p.m.

It’s an absolute auction, meaning the home will sell at any price to the highest bidder, with no minimum or reserve set.

“It’s one of a kind. It’s impossible to replace,” said Val DeVine, CEO and founder of Grand Estates Auction Co.

Her company will auction off the property, which is owned by an investor group that includes herself as a managing member. She has used the home as a weekend getaway and, at one time, had her own horses there. But the other investors now want to sell and she’s ready to move on.

“I love being out there. I really do,” she said. “But it’s a matter of when do I have the most time to ride? In the summer.”

In the summer, she heads to Colorado, where she plans to move her horses next.

On the equestrian property in East Naples, there are marked trails to keep riders from getting lost. The stalls open up to them.

“I’ve never seen an alligator,” DeVine said. “I’ve never seen a bear. I’ve never seen anything but deer out there. The sound of horses’ hooves keeps everything away.”

The investors spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to enhance the property after buying it in a short sale, which kept it from going to a public auction after the last owners defaulted on a hefty mortgage. The yard that once looked like a jungle has a manicured lawn, sodded pastures, a pond surrounded by new native trees, and a new electrified fencing that’s safer for horses.

The house was upgraded, with improvements that include plantation shutters, fresh paint inside and out, and elegant lighting throughout.

The custom home, built in 2008, spans 3,780 square feet and has a 3½ car garage. It has a gourmet kitchen, vaulted ceilings and a saltwater pool.

DeVine describes it as a “home for horses.” She said it made a good home for her own horses, which are now in North Carolina.

There’s room to add more stalls. There’s also a garden area where smaller farm animals can be kept.

The property is 14 feet above the flood level, so it stays “high and dry,” DeVine said. Two commercial bug zappers help keep pests in check.

Plans are drawn up for an expansion that would add a new master suite, turning the old one into an office. The permit has expired and would have to be renewed, however, DeVine said.

The current master suite has a big walk-in closet and a spalike shower with five shower heads. There’s a separate suite that can be locked off for guest privacy.

There’s hurricane glass throughout and a backup generator.

The investors saw the absolute auction as the most cost-effective way of selling the property. It involves a 30-day media and marketing blitz, designed to drum up interest from brokers and their buyers. That includes flashy brochures.

The property was listed with a couple of Realtors, but that didn’t bring suitable offers to the investors.

Viewing for qualified bidders began last weekend. Visits can be made this weekend and Monday and Tuesday. More information on the hours can be found at www.grandestatesauction.com.

A few interested buyers already have registered to bid. To register, they must have a $75,000 certified check made out to themselves, or a personal check with a bank letter of guarantee for that amount.

“More and more successful people are choosing to pick the day, the time and the conditions under which they’ll sell,” DeVine said. “Smart people know a property is worth only what people are willing to pay.”

The buyer will have to put 10 percent of the purchase price down on auction day and must close in 30 days.

“This is a game for people who are cash buyers,” DeVine said.

Qualified purchasers will bid live, in person or by phone.

“There’s no Internet bidding,” DeVine said.

She’s confident the property will fetch a high price, but she said it’s hard to say how high bids will go. Online real estate company Zillow estimates the value at a little over $1 million, while the Collier County Proper Appraiser values it at $302,762, which is far less than the true market value, said Glen Bigness, with the Bigness Realty Group, who specializes in horse property in Southwest Florida.

“There’s a good demand for horse property,” he said.

The property last sold for $395,000 in December 2010, but that was a short sale, where the investors paid less than what was owed on the mortgage to avoid a foreclosure. There are about a dozen homes in the area, many with direct access to riding trails in the state park, Bigness said.

Bigness recently sold another horse property in eastern Collier County for about $1 million, a deal that is still pending. It’s 10 acres on Richards Street, off Immokalee Road, near Collier Boulevard.

Grand Estates Auction Co. is a leader in the real estate auction business.

It has auctioned off property all over the U.S. and Canada and a related company auctions properties in Europe, South America and Latin America. The properties have sold anywhere from $1 million to $25 million, DeVine said.